New standards requested for battery storage facilities

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It was a unanimous decision by the Board of Supervisors to halt new battery storage facilities permits until fresh safety regulations can be put in place after two facilities caught fire in recent weeks.

“We really should have specific regulations for these battery storage systems and the fact that two out of three caught fire — and the one that was on fire for almost two weeks — it’s not a safe system,” said Jim Desmond, a county supervisor.

He explained that while the battery systems are new pieces of critical infrastructure for the changing power grid, the industry needs to prove they can do what they say.

“To me, I really think the onus is on the industry itself; they have to provide a product that’s not going to catch fire and put off toxic smoke,” said Desmond.

On the border of Escondido and Elfin Forest, the Seguro battery storage proposal has residents fighting against the project.

“I you had a fire here, you would have to evacuate like a thousand homes,” one resident told FOX 5/KUSI.

The Seguro battery plant proposal would be able to store enough power to run 300,000 homes for up to four hours, protecting the grid in the case of potential power outages. The Board of Supervisors will meet again on Aug. 27 to discuss future safety measures.

FOX 5/KUSI was unable to reach AES for comment on their proposed Seguro battery storage facility.

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